Cheating
Epilogue: Dream Demon
"Ready to go home?" Elliot asked, walking into Olivia's hospital room.
She looked up and smiled softly "Yeah," she whispered, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing up, rather shakily.
Elliot reached out and steadied her "Take it easy," he reminded her.
It had been nearly three months since she'd been found. Casey had done everything possible to put off Thatcher's day in court until Olivia was able to testify. The trial would be the following Monday, which meant that Olivia had the whole weekend to rest at home with Elliot.
She hadn't been able to get much rest in the hospital with nurses poking her with needles every five minutes. She'd never drifted deeper than a light fitful sleep. She was looking forward to curling up in a warm bed with Elliot's warm presence beside her.
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"Are you sure?" Elliot asked, sitting on the edge of Olivia's bed and looking like a frightened animal.
Olivia nodded "Yes," she said "Please just stay with me for a little while?"
Elliot slid beneath the covers, still keeping his distance; he was pleasantly surprised when she snuggled close to him. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair "I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," she whispered drowsily as she let her eyes drift closed and she fell into the deepest sleep she had had in months.
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Her bare feet pounded the mossy forest floor as she pushed her body to move as fast as it ever had before in her life. Behind her, she could hear the heavy footfalls of her pursuer, his breathing heavy as the distance between them lessened.
She reached down deep inside her for the strength to keep going; she knew what would happen if the man behind her got his hands on her again. It was dark. She tripped, falling face first into the moss and dead leaves that covered the ground. Get up! Get up! She screamed at herself but the second she did, she was grabbed by the man.
"You little bitch," he hissed, spinning her around so that her back collided hard with a tree.
She groaned, trying to crawl away but he forced her down "Get off of me," she tried to scream but her throat was dry and scratchy and it came out more like a gasp than anything else.
He was forcing himself on her, thrusting painfully into her, making her cry with the amount of pain he was inflicting. And he was bending over her, looking into her eyes "You like that don't you," he sneered malevolently.
"Stop," she whimpered, tears sliding down her face.
The man bent lower and she couldn't avoid looking at his face anymore. She stared up in horror at the last person she thought would do this. The sight of Elliot on top of her only reduced her to more of a quivering husk than she already was and she slammed her eyes shut again.
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"Olivia, Olivia, wake up," Elliot begged, sitting upright beside her on the bed as he watched her toss and turn and cry in her sleep.
Olivia's eyes popped open. Her eyes connected with Elliot's for only the briefest of moments and in them, he could see only terror and heartache. She shot from the bed and ran. She made it as far as the living room before, in her crazed state, she tripped on the coffee table and fell to the floor. She scrambled to her hands and knees but she began coughing again. A pair of warm arms encircled her "No," she whispered "Please don't…"
"Shhhhhhh," Elliot soothed, helping her to sit on the couch "You've got to take it easy Liv," he sat down beside her but was shocked when she curled up in the corner of the couch as, keeping as much distance between the two of them as possible.
She stared at him with those same wide, frightened eyes for a few more moments before she began to relax. This man was not the demon of her nightmares who had inexplicably taken his form. She was safe with him. She uncurled her body and sat normally on the couch but still made no effort to move closer to Elliot "Sorry," she said meekly.
"Nightmare?" he asked understandingly.
Like you can't even imagine, she thought but simply said with a shrug of her shoulders "Yeah."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No," she answered in a sharp tone that took Elliot by surprise. Olivia took a deep breath. This was the man she loved, the man who had stayed with her in the hospital, the man who had stroked her hair and held her hand while they did the rape kit. Eight years of learning to trust this one person, of loving him and one bad dream had shaken that trust to its core. It didn't matter how many times she reminded herself it wasn't him.
"You okay?" he asked and she looked into his face, seeing the love, the concern and understanding and she knew that the trust was still there.
"Yeah," she nodded but dropped her gaze from his; she knew what she had to do. This thing was moving too fast. If nothing else, the nightmare was a warning of that. She managed to look up at him again as she spoke next "I think I'd rather spend tonight alone, is that okay?"
Elliot looked at her for a moment before nodding "Sure," he stood up from the couch. He looked down at her "If you need anything…"
"I know," she said softly, rising to her feet, every fiber of her being telling her not to do this, not to push him away.
Elliot turned and walked to the door "Good night Olivia," he said as he opened it and stepped into the hallway "I love you."
Olivia nodded "Good night Elliot," he lingered in the doorway for a moment, expecting more but then turned and closed the door behind him. As Olivia listened to his footsteps retreating down the hall, she added "I love you too."
She turned and headed back into her bedroom and when she finally managed to fall asleep again, Elliot wasn't the face in her nightmares.
THE END
A/N: Don't kill me, please don't kill me. I know it's not the fairytale ending we all wanted but… I have no idea how to defend my actions but at least I finished a story for once.
